She's Back
by kensi54382
Summary: Natalie Davis has escaped from prison and gone after her previous victim- Sara Sidle. The team is chasing Natalie while Sara clings to life in the hospital. Will Natalie be caught? Will Sara survive this attack?
1. Chapter 1

"Russell, what's going on? This is Sara's place," said Nick. He and Greg were standing in the doorway, facing Russell, who was standing next to the bed.

"I don't know. Sara's on her way to the hospital as we speak," replied Russell.

"Is she alright?" asked Greg, eyeing the blood on the bed.

"She's unconscious. The paramedics think that she may need extensive surgery."

"Who called it in?"

"Catherine Willows. She told Brass that she and Sara were supposed to have breakfast together and then go shopping today."

"Where's Cath now?"

"Going with Sara. Brass said he'd get a full statement later."

"Well, we don't need him here, so maybe he can go to the hospital now instead of later," said Nick.

Russell agreed. He turned around and left the room to speak with Brass. Nick and Greg started processing the bedroom, hoping that they would find something to help find the person that had attacked Sara and left her for dead in her own home. Both guys were scared. Sara was their best friend, and they wanted to help her in any way they could.

* * *

"Hey Catherine, how's Sara doing?" asked Brass.

Catherine looked up from her seat in the hospital waiting room. She had clearly been crying.

"She's in surgery. The doctor said that she has badly broken bones in her head. Whoever did this was trying to kill her Jim."

"I'll get them Cath, I promise."

"Thanks. I suppose you want my statement now?"

"If you feel up to it. Take your time."

"Last weekend, Sara and I were supposed to spend some time together but I got called in to work at the last minute. So we decided to make it for today, since we were both off. Sara had suggested this little cafe for breakfast before we went shopping. I agreed. I told her that I would pick her up at eight. When I got to her place, the front door was ajar, but I couldn't see Sara inside. I had a bad feeling and I called out to Sara. When she didn't answer, I pulled my gun out of the car and went in. I called out again. She didn't answer again. I checked the whole of the first floor and then went upstairs. There was blood on the floor outside Sara's bedroom. When I pushed the door open, Sara was lying in bed, like she was just sleeping. But the blanket and pillow were bloody, and her head was covered in blood. I checked her pulse, called an ambulance, and then called you."

Brass pulled Catherine into his arms while she cried. After a little while, a doctor came out and Catherine jumped up.

"Is Sara okay?" Catherine asked, unsure of how long she had been waiting.

"Miss Sidle is out of surgery. I can't say for sure, but I believe that she'll wake up in her own time. For now, the only thing we can do is monitor her," answered Dr Smith.

"Did the surgery go well?"

"As best as we can hope for. The head injuries were extensive. We've fixed the bones back in place without any need for plates though, which is good. But, she does have some swelling on her brain. it should come down in the next few days."

"Does she have any other injuries?" asked Brass.

"A few broken ribs and a fractured rib. Her left kidney is swollen from being hit repeatedly."

"Can we see her?"

Dr Smith nodded. He led Catherine and Brass down the corridor and into the intensive care unit. Catherine walked into Sara's room and dropped into a chair, crying. She picked up Sara's hand, being careful not to cause any more damage. Brass thanked the doctor, and then stood in the doorway, making his own assessment of Sara's condition. Her head was bandaged, and she had been put onto a ventilator. The heart monitor was beeping steadily. An IV line was running into Sara's right hand. She was clearly unconscious.

"Jim, we should call Grissom. He'll come straightaway," sniffled Catherine.

"You don't know, do you?" asked Brass.

"Don't know what? Sara wanted to tell me something, but she never got the chance."

"Did she say what it was about?"

"Something about Grissom. She said something happened at work last week too."

"Grissom broke up with Sara over the phone about three weeks ago."

"What!? How do you know that?"

"The entire lab knows. Last week, a guy named Ronald Basderic murdered a friend of Sara's. He planned to kill her too. He planted Sara's necklace and sleeping pills at the crime scene. He switched the drains in Sara's hotel room and the crime scene so that it would look like Sara had been there. She had actually been there, but left well before the murder. Since she and Grissom split up, Sara had been taking pills to help her sleep. Basderic switched out he pills with drugs that knocked Sara out. He even broke into her house and put the murder weapon into her dishwasher. When she confronted him, he knew where to stand to make it look like she had attacked him. It worked too. The detective on the case sent Akers and Mitch to pick her up. He had Finn..."

"Finn?"

"She came in after you left. Her name is Julie Finlay, but she prefers Finn."

"Okay."

"Finn was sent to process Sara. When Greg and Nick found out, they got annoyed. Nick confronted the detective after Finn told him that Sara hadn't hit Basderic and got him to agree to trick Basderic into incriminating himself. It worked, and the detective caught Basderic when he tried to shoot Sara with blanks. Sara was cleared of the murder charge, although she never should've been charged in the first place."

"That doesn't explain how you know about Sara and Grissom. Or why Sara had a nasty message on her answering machine last week from Hodges."

"Hodges thought Sara was cheating on Grissom. You know how everyone is around here. Grissom is their hero. Sara came off as the bad guy when we all found out. And before you ask again, we found out after Sara found the murder weapon in her dishwasher. When she found the knife, she called Nick. He and Greg went to Sara's place. While Nick was looking at the knife, Greg was checking for forced entry. He found a picture on a table of Sara kissing the victim, which only served to further the rumor that Sara was cheating. Russell looked at the photo and told Sara off for lying to him and Nick. Sara tried to tell them that she wasn't lying since she didn't think it was relevant. That was when she told them that Grissom had broken up with her, and that she didn't say anything because she knew that she'd be made out as the bad guy."

"I can't believe it. Can this get any worse for the poor thing?" Catherine looked at Sara sadly. "She's such a kind person Jim. Where's Basderic?"

"Maximum security prison in solitary confinement. He didn't do this Cath."

Catherine turned back to Sara as tears started to fall down her cheeks.

* * *

"Hey Nick, look at this," called Greg from Sara's ensuite bathroom.

"What is it?" asked Nick.

"Blood drops. Whoever attacked Sara injured themselves I think."

"Good. Let's hope they did, cause all of the blood in the bedroom is going to be Sara's."

Greg agreed, collected the evidence they had found and then followed Nick out of the house. Akers stuck an LVPD Crime Scene sticker on the front door sadly and followed the guys back to the crime lab.


	2. Chapter 2

"Russell, I got something," said Henry excitedly.

Russell walked into the DNA lab. He waited for Henry to collect a printout and start talking.

"So, the guys got two different types of blood from Sara's house. Most of it was obviously Sara's, but three of the samples came from another female. I got a hit in CODIS. The blood is a match to Natalie Davis."

"Where have I heard that name before?"

"Maybe in Sara's personnel file. Natalie kidnapped Sara and tried to kill her in revenge. She believed that it was Grissom's fault her foster father died, so she took Sara to inflict the same pain on Grissom that she felt. She almost succeeded in killing Sara too. By the time the team found her, Sara had collapsed from dehydration and heatstroke. She was injured and had lost a lot of blood too. She only woke up after the air paramedics had covered with ice packs in the medivac chopper."

"Great. Let's hope Sara beats the odds again. Brass called a few minutes ago, saying that Sara is out of surgery but not out of the woods. She's in a critical but stable condition."

Russell left the DNA lab, heading for the break room. He called a 'family meeting' and once everyone had come in, Russell started talking.

"Are you kidding!? How is she even out of prison? She's a serial killer!" yelled Nick.

"Calm down Nicky," said Catherine. Russell had called her in. "I'll get Pratt to pull some strings and get more resources. She's not getting away!"

"I can't calm down Cath. Sara's in danger, put there by the same person that almost killed her last time!"

"I understand Nicky, I do. I was there. I saw what happened. I saw how it affected her. I know what the consequences are. But, we're here Nicky. We'll help her. We'll keep her safe. Everything will be okay."

Catherine gave Nick a hug. She knew how he felt, she felt the same way.

"Okay, Catherine, you go ahead and speak to the FBI. I'll get Brass to put a BOLO out on Natalie. Everyone else, get in the labs and get me some answers." Russell waited for everyone to leave and then pulled Nick and Greg aside. "You guys go to the hospital. Visit with Sara. I'm going to call her mother. Let me know how Sara is when you get there."

* * *

Nick and Greg walked into Sara's hospital room. The doctor was writing something onto a chart, and turned to find the guys staring at their friend sadly.

"Friends of Sara's?" asked Dr Smith.

Nick nodded. "How is she?"

"Not good. She seems to be getting better slowly, but I can't be sure."

Greg walked up to the bed and looked at Sara. He picked up her hand and started to say hi, before realising that she couldn't hear him.

"Don't stop," smiled the doctor.

"She can't hear me," replied Greg quietly.

"Doesn't matter. She may hear you, she may not. Talking to someone in a coma can be a wonderful thing. Sometimes it can wake them up."

Greg stared at the doctor like he was mad.

"When will you be able to tell if she's going to wake up?" asked Nick.

"I don't know. I have a feeling that she will wake up in her own time, but I don't want to get your hopes up in case she doesn't."

"That sounds fair. Thank you doctor."

Dr Smith smiled at the guys again and then walked out of the room, closing the door behind him. He had a feeling that these two people were going to be there for Sara until she was back to her normal self.

* * *

"Okay, thank you Nick." Russell hung up, having just been told that Sara hadn't changed since Catherine had last called him.

"Russell, I got something that you need to see," called Morgan. She was with Henry in the AV lab.

"What is it?"

Morgan pointed at the screen. "There. Henry says that's Natalie."

"Are you sure Henry?"

"One hundred percent Russell. I won't forget her ever. That is her."

"Where is this camera?"

"A block away from Sara's house. Finn and Cath have gone there already."

"Okay. See if you can't find her after she left the house."

"Got it."

* * *

"There's the camera Finn," said Catherine. The girls headed into the gas station, hoping that someone had seen Natalie.

"Excuse me sir, do you recognise this woman?" asked Finn, showing the attendant a picture of Natalie.

"She was here this morning. It was a quiet morning and she seemed out of place. Did she do something wrong?"

"She's a felon. If you see her again, please call me." Catherine handed her business card to the guy.

"FBI? What did she do?"

"Currently, attempted murder and escaped prisoner. Hopefully it won't get any worse."

"Oh, um, she headed in that direction. She was mumbling something about getting a job done." The attendant pointed toward Sara's street.

"Thank you."


	3. Chapter 3

Catherine knocked on the door of one of Sara's neighbours. She had been hoping that something would give away Natalie's intentions after she attacked Sara, but so far there had been nothing. Canvassing had become a last resort, something that Catherine had insisted on before the two women headed back to the lab.

"May I help you?" asked a young man after opening the door.

"I'm Catherine Willows, from the FBI. I was wondering if I could ask you some questions."

"Sure."

"Do you know your neighbours?"

"Yes. The one on that side," he pointed to Sara's house, "works nights. We don't really talk much cause of work hours. The other one is a good friend, we work together."

"The one that works nights, did you talk to her yesterday?"

"Briefly, when she was getting mail."

"Did she seem okay?"

"She was happy. She's been really sad lately, I'm not sure why, so it was a nice change. Did something happen to her?"

"She was attacked early this morning. Did you happen to see anything?"

"No, sorry, I was probably asleep. Is she okay?"

"She's in a coma. What was your name?"

"Harvey Milton."

"Okay. Thanks for your help Mr Milton." Catherine walked off and Harvey closed his door. "Nothing helpful. Maybe we should just go back to the lab Finn."

* * *

"Wait, go back," said Morgan excitedly.

"What is it?" asked Henry.

"That's her. Going into that house. Right?"

Henry looked at the screen and a smile appeared on his face. "We need to tell Russell."

* * *

Hodges finished explaining his findings. Finn had gone to the hospital to process Sara, and returned with a lot of evidence. It seemed that Natalie was getting sloppy.

"So basically, paint chips in her hair," said Russell dejectedly. He had been hoping for something more.

"Not just any paint. Nail polish. I bet that Natalie has pink nail polish on her fingernails," smiled Hodges.

"Okay, thanks David." Russell walked out of the lab and into Henry and Morgan. "You two got something?"

"We sure do. Come on." Henry's excitement was evident.

* * *

"Wait a minute. Henry, can you enlarge that man's face?" asked Catherine.

"Sure, just a second... There you go Cath."

"What did you see?" asked Russell. He had seen the video already but nothing had stood out, other than a location that he was contemplating sending the women to.

"That guy, he lives next door to Sara. I spoke to him about an hour ago. He said he didn't see anything."

"Go." Russell watched Catherine and Finn leave the lab. Hope of finding Natalie was setting in.

* * *

Voices were starting to intrude on Sara's peaceful sleep. It had been a long time since she had slept properly and this rest was something that she needed more than anything. So the voices were rude, according to Sara. She tried to ignore them, but it eventually became too much. As other sounds began to penetrate her mind, Sara opened her eyes, ready to yell at whoever had woken her.

"Shut..." The words died on Sara's lips as she registered her surroundings. "What the hell!?"

Someone stopped talking and looked at Sara. The face came into focus, and Sara found herself looking into Catherine's face.

"Welcome back Sara. How are you feeling?" asked Catherine.

"What the hell happened!?"

"You were attacked in your bedroom. Don't you remember?"

"Uh, no. Cath, what day is it?"

"Thursday."

"Time?"

"Four in afternoon."

"I need to get ready for work. Can you take me home?"

"You aren't working until the doctor says you can."

"But Grissom is on his sabbatical. It's just you, me and Keppler tonight."

"Honey, Keppler's gone. He's been gone for six years. Grissom is working overseas somewhere."

"Grissom sent me a plant though. Didn't he?"

"Not for a while. About six months actually."

"What are you talking about?"

"You and Grissom broke up."

"We aren't even together Cath." Confusion had lit up Sara's face.

"What's the date Sara?"

"Uh, I think it's the twelfth."

"What month?"

"October."

"Year?"

"2007."

"Okay honey, I'll be right back." Catherine stood up and left to find Sara's doctor.

* * *

"Hi Sara. I'm Dr Smith. How are you feeling?"

"Tired. Cath said that I was attacked. Is she telling the truth?"

"Yes."

"I don't remember that."

"I'm aware of that. Miss Willows says that you think it's 2007."

"It is though. Isn't it?"

"No. It's 2013."

"What!?"

"Relax. It's normal to have some memory loss after being unconscious."

"Yeah, like a few days, not a few years!"

"It's okay Sara. I'll do a test and we'll see. It's probably just temporary."

"How long is temporary?"

"A few days, a week at the most."

"I want to go home."

"Maybe tomorrow."

* * *

"Okay Sara, just relax. This will be over before you know it." Dr Smith turned to his computer screen, watching the images of Sara's brain. Everything looked normal to him.

* * *

"Okay, so she'll be okay?" asked Dr Smith. He was talking to a friend from the neurology department.

"Definitely. She'll need to rest, but otherwise she should be okay in a few days." The neurologist smiled and then left.

Dr Smith walked into Sara's room with a smile on his face. He was glad that he had good news for his patient. "Sara, you will have your memory back soon. And you can go home in the morning."

Sara let out a breath and let go of Nick's hand. Catherine had gone back to the lab a while ago, swapping with Nick. Nick had told Sara that he was waiting for Grissom to reply to his message.

"Nicky, don't go please," whispered Sara sadly. She liked the news she had received from the doctor, but was sad because she wanted Grissom back. She still thought that it was 2007, but she knew she had a relationship with him.

"I won't. What's wrong?"

"I don't know. I guess I'm just scared. I wish Grissom was here."

Nick could see pain on Sara's face. She genuinely missed him, but she was going to remember that he broke off their marriage. When that memory came back, Nick knew she was going to be hurt. He was going to be there for her when that time came.

"He will be. I'm going to call him right now actually." Nick pulled out his phone and dialled Grissom's number. After a minute, Grissom's voice answered.

"I got your message Nick. I'll be at the hospisoon in about ten minutes. Is Sara awake yet?"

"Yes and she wants you."

"She remembers our relationship?"

"Kind of. I'll explain when you get here."

"Okay, bye."

Nick hung up and looked over at Sara. He could see the hopeful look on her face.

* * *

Grissom knocked on the door to Sara's hospital door. Sara looked up and smiled. She still didn't remember what he had done to her. Nick had explained that Sara thought that she and Grissom had a secret relationship. She didn't know that Natalie had left her to die under a car. She didn't remember getting married or breaking up with Grissom.

"Come in Griss." Sara smiled again.

"Thank you. How are you feeling?" Nick had also said that the doctor wanted Sara to remember everything on her own.

"I'm tired. Everyone says that I've lost my memory of the last six years, but I don't know why. It's 2007."

"No honey, it's 2013. But your memory will come back."

"Why can't I remember?"

"I don't know. The doctor said that you're probably repressing a memory that hurt you." _Not probably,_ thought Grissom, _definitely._

"Oh, what memory?"

"Don't know."


	4. Chapter 4

Sara opened her eyes to find that it was dark outside the window. Grissom had left for the night before Sara fell asleep. Sara wasn't sure what had woken her this time. She had a feeling that she had gotten her memory back though because she no longer wanted Grissom near her. She knew that she had suppressed a couple of memories now, and wished they had stayed that way. Being put underneath a car in the desert when it was about to storm and being left to die there was the worst memory she had. But the memory of Grissom breaking her heart and breaking up with her was close. It was worse than being arrested for a murder she didn't commit and having no-one believe her.

"Hey Sara, what are you doing up?" asked Sandra. She was a nurse that Sara had met after Grissom had left.

"I can't sleep. I think I got my memory back though. That's good, right?"

"That's wonderful. Are you sure?"

"It's September sixth, 2013. I'll be forty-one years old in ten days. My birthday is September sixteenth. I was born in 1971. I was married for around four and a half years. I still am technically, but I'm separated from my husband now. We've been separated since about February 2013. My husband is Gilbert Grissom. I work at the LVPD crime lab."

"Okay, I believe you Sara. I'll let your doctor know in the morning. Now, please try to sleep." Sandra left the room, leaving the door slightly ajar, with a smile on her face. She liked Sara.

A smile spread across Sara's face and she tried to fall asleep.

* * *

Sara woke up happy. She was going home, had her memory back, and was going to work in a couple of days. Greg had offered to pick her up and take her out to breakfast, but Sara had asked if he would just take her home instead. She wanted to shower and rest some more at home. Also, Grissom had promised that he would be at her place that afternoon and Sara wanted to address some things with him.

"Morning Sara," said Greg from the door.

"Hi Greggo."

"Ready to get out of here?"

"Definitely. Let's go." Sara jumped up and gave Greg a hug, again apologising for declining breakfast.

"Don't worry about it. We'll do it another time. Maybe even with the team." Greg picked up Sara's bag and led her to his car.

* * *

Grissom knocked on Sara's front door. Nerves were making him want to turn around, but he knew that he and Sara needed to talk. They needed to figure things out and decide where they were going to go. Ever since Grissom had found out that Sara had been attacked by Natalie again, he had decided that it was time for him to try and salvage their marriage. God knew that Sara had done more than her fair share of trying to fix the relationship, always without acknowledgement.

"Come in Grissom." Sara moved out of the way and Grissom walked into the house, looking around the place that he used to call home.

"Thank you for agreeing to this Sara. I know you must be hurt."

"Hurt is not the right word Gilbert Grissom. You're lucky that I only just remembered what you did, otherwise I would've started on you at the hospital." Sara was furious.

* * *

"Mr Milton, open up!" shouted Catherine through the front door. She was pissed.

Finn and Catherine had gone back to Sara's neighbour, this time armed with an arrest warrant for both him and Natalie. They didn't really expect her to still be there, but they wanted to be prepared just the same.

"What do you want?" yawned Harvey. He had clearly been sleeping.

"You are under arrest for harboring a fugitive. Let's go." Finn took hold of Harvey and cuffed him, following Catherine to the car. She was fuming just as much as Catherine, though she had managed to hide it.

* * *

"Where's Natalie Davis?" asked Brass calmly, although his blood was boiling with anger.

"I don't know. Uh, I mean, I don't know who that is." Harvey flushed with embarrassment.

"Don't lie to me Harvey. I'm annoyed right now. Where is she?"

"She left this morning. I don't know where she went."

"Why did she come to you?"

"No idea. I never met her before two days ago. She came to the door covered in blood. I let her in to clean up and she stayed."

"You knew that she was a fugitive, why didn't you call the police?"

"I don't know. I guess I didn't want to get involved."

"Too late Harvey. Harbouring a fugitive is against the law. Did she say where she's going?"

"Somewhere out of state. I don't know where exactly."

"Am I in trouble?"

"No genius, you're going to roam free. Of course you're in trouble. You harbored a fugitive that almost killed a cop. You're going to prison for a long time. The FBI are sending you to a federal prison."

Brass walked out of the door, passing Catherine in the observation room. She gave him a small smile.

* * *

"Do you want something to drink Grissom?" asked Sara.

"No thank you."

"Fine. I hate you right now Grissom. You hurt me when you said you were done with our relationship. I didn't want you to end it, but I kept my mouth shut because I didn't want you to think I was clingy. Everything went into a downward spiral after that. I got charged with a murder I didn't commit. My work went down the drain. I pushed everyone away so they wouldn't know that we had broken up. I told Nick and Greg after they found out so that I could have a friend in my corner, but I didn't think that they would be on my side. You hurt me Grissom." Sara sniffled and wiped her tears away.

"I'm sorry Sara. And you know what? You're right. I hurt you. I didn't mean to, I really was trying to do what was best for you. I still love you Sara. I never stopped loving you. And I would like to try and move past it if you want to. I want to try and repair the relationship."

"Really?" asked Sara hopefully.

"Yes. Do you want to try again?"

"YES! I love you Grissom."

Grissom opened his arms and Sara threw herself into them, ignoring the pain in her body and head. Grissom pulled Sara closer to him and kissed her lips, only pulling away when he felt her grow uncomfortable.

"Are you alright?"

"Yes Griss. I'm just a little lightheaded."

"Okay, time to sit down." Worried, Grissom picked Sara up and lay her down gently on the couch. Her eyes were closed, and Grissom knew that she was hurting more than she let on. "I'll get you some water."

"Okay Griss." Sara put her head down on the cushion she loved while Grissom moved around the kitchen that used to be his.

"Here you go." Grissom pulled Sara into a seated position and handed her the glass of water.

"Thank you." Sara drank greedily, making Grissom think that she should have stayed in hospital.


End file.
